DERVİŞ DAVUTPAŞA MOSQUE COMPLEX

Davud Paşa, Fatih - Istanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°00'23.0"N 28°56'15.0"E / 41.006389, 28.937500



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The complex was built by Dervis Davud Pasha (d. 1498) - who was the governor-general (beylerbeyi) of the Anatolian provinces under Sultan Mehmed II (1451-1481) and then the grand-vizier of Sultan Bayezid II (1481-1512), and finally he became a devotional hermit (dervis). Davud Pasha had a large endowment (waqf) including commercial properties in the Turkish cities of Istanbul, Edirne, Bursa, Yenişehir, and Beypazarı; Skopje, Bitola (Manastir) in Macedonia; Varna in Bulgaria; Aetos (Aydos) in Greece. These properties provided income for the management and maintenance of his complex in Istanbul among other public works.

Located in the residential quarter named after Davud Pasha, the complex consists of a mosque, madrasa (medrese) and soup kitchen (imaret). The mosque is composed of a five bay domed porch preceding a large prayer hall under a single dome, flanked by two convent rooms on either side. The mosque is oriented 38 degrees east of south. The main portal, marked by a rise of the portico cornice, is set into the portico façade and crowned by a semi umbrella vault. The foundation plaque above the entry is composed in Arabic and gives the completion date of 1485-86 (890 A.H.).

According to the inscription of Davut Pasha Mosque (situated a bit far from Haseki Mosque), was built by Grand Vizier Davut Pasha in 1485. It is an example of the transition to the single domed mosques of the Bursa type.The mosque was restored by the architects Abdullah and Ismail after the earthquake of 1766. The destruction caused by the fire was repaired in 1782. The restoration of the domes and some walls, which were ruined during the earthquake of 1894, were hardly completed in 1945.

The calligraph in the mosque is the creation of Calligrapher Sheikh Hamdullah. The central dome, with a diameter in 18 meters, seems the part of body of the mosque. Measuring 18.2 x 18.1 meters in to in, the mosque has two small rooms.

Entering the prayer hall, the space of the interior is dominated by the large dome and its colossal squinches, adorned with stalactites that cascade down the four corners of the main space. The qibla wall projects beyond the flanking spaces on the exterior and is further distinguished with a polygonal mihrab apse that is capped with a semi-dome below the cornice line. The four convent rooms, each covered with a dome, have doors into the prayer hall. The southern rooms, equipped with fireplaces and shelves, can also be entered via the semi-enclosed northern rooms, which open to the exterior with arched entryways.

The windowpanes and doors of the mosque are contemporary, while the minber is known to date from the rule of Mahmud II. Painted decoration of the period, consisting of arabesques, depictions of trees and Koranic inscriptions, were discovered on walls during the 1945-48 renovation, recorded and plastered over. The mosque has a single minaret with a rectangular base on the western corner; its shaft was rebuilt after the 1766 earthquake.

The Davud Pasha complex was damaged by earthquakes in 1648 and 1766 and burnt in the 1782, shortly after its restoration by royal architects. The portico collapsed in the 1894 earthquake. A major renovation by Ekrem Hakkı Ayverdi between 1945-48 restored the missing columns to the portico and rebuilt its domes and the mihrab apse.

The walls were also reinforced at this time, by refilling gaps in the wall structure that were caused by rotting, disintegrating wooden planks. A later renovation was performed by the General Directorate of Religious Endowments (Vakiflar Genel Müdürlügü) in the 1960s. Most recently, a new ablution fountain was built on the foundation of the original.

The Madrasa
The madrasa is located to the northeast, across the street from the mosque. It is composed of sixteen rooms and a domed arcade enclosing three sides of a square courtyard, and a wall with windows on the fourth, where the entrance is located. The foundation plaque above the entry is composed in Arabic and gives the date of completion, 1499-1500 (905 A.H.) .

There is a large domed classroom with mihrab located at the center of the northern wing, across the courtyard from the entrance. The individual rooms all have a fireplace and shelves. The arcade, which has partially collapsed due to earthquakes, has columns and capitals recycled from Byzantine monuments. The madrasa remains in dilapidated state, with homes and retail attached to its exterior walls.

The madrasah has 16 rooms and 1 classroom. The Byzantine columns and capitals of the porticos were reused here. People, who lost their houses during the fire of 1918, were located to the madrasah, which was restored after the earthquake of 1648. The dome of the madrasah fell down in 1931.

Fountain
The plain fountain, built after Davut Pasha died, with an inscription on it is the oldest Ottoman fountain. A fountain outside the precinct wall, dating back to 1485, is the oldest in the city with a foundation plaque.

The Mausoleum
Davut Pasha who died in 1498 is buried within the tomb behind the mosque, octagonally planned, measuring in to in, 7.36 meters in diameter. The name Dervish Mahmut is written on the tomb’s arch. The mausoleum, located to the left of the mosque, is composed of a single octagonal room with an entry porch to the northeast. The foundation plaque, framed by a Bursa arch above the entrance, gives the date of completion 1499-1500 (A.H. 905).

The door is of the period. Inside, the marble sarcophagus of Davud Paşa occupies the center, with his steward (kethüda) buried to his side. The interior is lit by two windows on each façade, the lower framed by a varied Bursa arch and the upper honeycomb carved windows.

Koranic School, Soup Kitchen
The Koranic School (mekteb) was taken down following damage in earthquakes. Its site behind the mosque is now occupied by a Middle School. The soup kitchen, similarly, is non-extant.

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TURKISH CALLIGRAPHIC ARTS MUSEUM

Beyazit, Fatih - Istanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°00'36.4"N 28°57'47.3"E / 41.010111, 28.963139



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Turkish Calligraphic Arts Museum, once a medrese of Beyazit Mosque in Beyazit Square, is the only museum of its kind. It contains a beautiful collection of calligraphy and illumination. There are also examples of calligraphy on stone and glass as well as the tools used in calligraphy. Now, calligraphy works of many famous calligraphers and calligrapher sultans, sheets, sultan monograms and Korans arranged according to type are on display.

The Beyazid Medresse, which was used as the municipality library since 1945 was evacuated, restored and reorganized as the Turkish Calligraphic Arts Museum. It has interesting and valuable examples of the Turkish art of the pen, Korans, imperial seals, diplomas, Hilye-i serif (descriptions of the Prophet), equipment and apparatus for calligraphic writing, samples of bookbinding, holy relics and miniatures, especially from Ottoman and Seljuk periods.

The Museum of Turkish Calligraphic Art is the first and only calligraphy museum in Turkey. The Museum was first opened in the madrasah of Sultan Selim located on Vatan Street in 1968. After the Bayezid Madrasah was restored by the Directorate of Religious Endowments, it was moved there and opened to visitors on October 28, 1984.

Restored in 2009, the museum is now located in what was originally the medrese (religious school) of the sixteenth century Beyazıt Mosque.  Exhibits are housed in what were once the hücres, or cells, of the medrese. These hücres surround a peaceful courtyard featuring stone-carved calligraphy.  The Dar'ül-Kurra, the section of the medrese where the reading of the Quran is taught, located in the courtyard, is accessible to visitors during the museum’s opening hours. It contains holy relics of the prophet Muhammad.

Within the collection of the Museum of Turkish Calligraphic Art, are Qur’ans written in of muhakkak, nesih, and küfi scripts. There are also handwritten manuscripts written in Indian and Moraccan scripts, as well as sheets, sultans’ signatures, symertic (aynali) manuscripts, madrasa diplomas, hilye-i sherifs "the attributes of the Prophet Muhammed(s.a.w.s)", and miniatures.

In the Holy Relics Section of the Museum, there are a Ka’bah cloth, the Prophet's (s.a.w.s.) beard (sakal-i sherif), a bottle in which some soil brought from the grave of the Prophet (s.a.w.s.), as well as miniatures depicting scenes from the cities of Madina, Mina, Muzdelife. Miscellaneous documents belonging to various religious orders, family trees, reedpens, which are historically and spiritually important works, enrich the collection of the museum.

Also on exhibit are examples of calligraphy by Sultan Abdülmecid (1823-1861), Ahmed III (1673-1736), and Mahmut II (1785-1839). There is a reading desk (rahle) made of rosewood and a walnut-tree, on which the Qur’an was read, owned by Sultan Abdulhamid II (1842-1918) which still continues to attract the attention of both foreign and domestic visitors. As such, the museum is one of the many historical places on the peninsula of Istanbul.

Calligraphy has always been recognized as a noble art, especially because it serves as a means of beautifying the text of the Quran. The Türk Vakıf Hat Sanatları Müzesi showcases the different types of calligraphy used during Ottoman times, with items like rare manuscripts and bookbindings on display.  The museum also features beautiful tile art with a number of brilliantly illuminated Qurans that date back to the thirteenth century.

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WEB SITE : Türk Vakıf Hat Sanatları Müzesi

MORE INFO & CONTACT
E-Mail : istanbul@vgm.gov.tr
Phone : +90 212. 243 64 59
Fax : +90 212 243 64 59

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FEYZULLAH EFENDİ MADRASA

Fatih - Istanbul - Turkey

GPS : 41°01'01.6"N 28°56'59.6"E / 41.017111, 28.949889



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On Macar Kardeşler Street a rectangular planned Feyzullah Efendi Madrasa was built by Şeyhülislam Seyyid Feyzullah Efendi in 1700. Although its architect is not known, the chief architect of the period must have been Mehmet Ağa. According to the inscription in the front wall of the madrasah by Calligrapher Kami Mehmet Efendi, the fountain was built in 1700. Having built the library and the sections of the classroom in a single building is a very rare technique in Ottoman architecture.

During the extensive work on Macar Kardesler Street in 1912, it was saved from destruction thanks to Madame Bombar’s efforts, wife of French Ambassador of the period. A madrasah with 10 rooms, which is outwardly dominated by classical architecture, is surrounded by a small courtyard containing a pool. On the right side of the porch on the second floor, lie the reading rooms of the madrasah.

The cells of the medrese surround two sides of the courtyard in which stands a şadırvan in the midst of a pretty garden. The street side of the courtyard is wholly occupied by a most elaborate and original dershane building: a flight of steps leads up to a sort of porch covered by nine domes of different patterns, the arches of which are supported on four columns.

The effect of this porch has been somewhat impaired by glazing in a part of it, but its usefulness has doubtless been increased. To right and left of the porch are the large domed lecture-rooms, now used as library reading-rooms.

According to the epitaph and foundation charter, the library was built by Şeyhülislam Seyyid Feyzullah Efendi in 1112 Hijri (1700-1701). Because its structure was ruined in the early 20th century, the municipality considered completely destroying it and build a car park in its place. However, with the initiatives of the İstanbul Muhibleri Cemiyeti (Association for Lovers of Istanbul) and with the efforts of Minister of Foundations Şeyhülislam Mustafa Hayri Efendi, the building was restored and saved from destructiong (1334 Hiji / 1916).

The medrese, long disaffected and ruinous, was restored and converted into a library by Ali Emiri Efendi, a famous bibliophile who died in 1924 and left the building and his valuable collection of books and manuscripts to the people of Istanbul. The reading-rooms are almost always full of students.

İSTANBUL MİLLET LIBRARY

This library was established in the district of Fatih in the Feyzullah Efendi Medrese in 1911 by Ali Emiri Efendi. Its original collection consists of over 16,000 volumes from Ali Emiri's private colection of rare works. It presently holds 70,000 volumes, 9,000 which are manuscripts in Ottoman Turkish, Arabic and Persian.

Among the important items contained in the library, are the calligraphic panels made by Sultan Mahmud III (1808-39) which hang on the walls of the museum section, as well as early periodicals and Arabic newspapers. In 1993 the library became classified as a research library and adopted the Dewey Decimal Classification System.

Calligraphy
İstanbul has long been a center of Islamic calligraphy (hat), an art from given much importance in the Islamic world. Calligraphy is not merely an artistic form of writing but is often an expression of religious feeling through the adornment of the names of God and the verses of the Quran. Calligraphy is displayed on wall plaques, inside domes of mosques and other buildings, on minarets grave stones, and porcelain pieces.

Artists of calligraphy are referred to as hattat. Those artists, however, who were responsible for producing the calligraphic Ottoman Sultan's seal (tuğra) and the stylised calligraphic design of the Sultan's signature of official documents were called tuğrakeş.

Miniature
The roots of Ottoman miniature production can be found in the Persian traditon of book illustration during back to the Selçuk and Ilkhanid periods, which in turn was greatly influenced by Uygur and Chinese traditions. This art from differs considerably from the classical western painting tradition in that it is two-dimensional and does not take depth perspective in consideration.

During the Ottoman period, İstanbul became the most important center for the production of miniatures, which were produced not in isolation but rather as illustration accompanying historical and literary works. Miniature production was supported by the cort and continued as an important artistic activity until the influence of classical Western painting became predominnat in the eighteenth century, whereupon it lost its originality and importance as an art form. Miniatures have as much importance as historical documents as they do as works of art, and the most choice examples are displayed in museums.

According to the epitaph "kitabe" and foundation charter "vakfiye", the library was built by Şeyhülislam Seyyid Feyzullah Efendi in 1112 Hijri (1700-1701 Gregorian). Because its structure was ruined in the early 20th century, the municipality considered completely destroying it and build a car park in its place. However, with the initiatives of the İstanbul Muhibleri Cemiyeti (Association for Lovers of Istanbul) and with the efforts of Evkaf Nazırı (Minister of Foundations) Şeyhülislam Mustafa Hayri Efendi, the building was restored and saved from destructiong (1334 Hiji / 1916 Gregorian).

It became a general library and took the name of Fatih Millet Library. Along with the physical restoration of the library, Feyzullah Efendi donated 2,189 manuscripts and Ali Emiri Efendi donated 16,000 books to the library.

The books of important waqf (foundation) libraries such as Reşid Efendi, Carullah Efendi, Hekimoğlu Ali Paşa and Pertev Paşa Libraries, which had completely unusable buildings from 1924 onwards, were gathered in Millet Library along with the books of Şeyhülislam Feyzullah Efendi; but, when Millet Library was transformed to Public Library in 1962, all the books of waqf libraries were transferred to Süleymaniye Library. The library’s collection was transfered to the Simkeşhane Building in Laleli, and the Millet Library reassumed its identity and continued to serve the Fatih District of Istanbul as a public library.

Murad Molla, Adile Sultan, Yusuf Paşa, Hekimoğlu Ali Paşa Public Libraries and Ebu Bekir Paşa, Yavuz Selim, Zembilli Ali Efendi Children’s Libraries had served as affiliated sub units of Millet Library, but these libraries were converted  into vakıfs (non-for-profit organizations). The manuscripts from Murad Molla Public Library were transferred to Süleymaniye Library in 2000 and have been open to public use since..

The library became specialized for research by handing over the new books available in the Public Library, which serves in affiliation with Libraries and Publications General Directorate of Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Turkey, to Library and Documentation Center of Sakarya University. The library continues to serve under the name “Millet Manuscript Library.”

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WEB SITE : Millet Library

MORE INFO & CONTACT
E-Mail : okuyucu@milletkutup.gov.tr
Phone : +90 212 631 3607 - +90 212 631 3962
Fax : +90 212 635 7487

These scripts and photographs are registered under © Copyright 2017, respected writers and photographers from the internet. All Rights Reserved.